Uyo – The Akwa Ibom Government on Monday appealed to the Federal Government to assist in tackling the problem of gully erosion confronting the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Etido Inyang, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.
Inyang said that if urgent steps are not taken to address the issue, Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, would lose half of its land to erosion.
According to him, if not for the state’s immediate intervention in salvaging Calabar-Itu Road from the gully erosion, the road would have completely collapsed.
He added that the same thing played itself out when Trunk A Road in Oron, Oron Local Government Area of the state, gave way to erosion on July 9, 2013.
“The ravens are collapsing and forming gullies and are threatening lives and property. The Senate came for inspection and we have shown them the areas.
“For instance, if the state government had not intervened at the Calabar-Itu and Oron erosion sites, Cross River would have been cut off from the rest of the country.
“Furthermore, movement would have been seriously undermined in Oron, affecting economic activities in that area; these are federal roads and it is her responsibility.
“Even with the state government’s intervention, the Federal Government has not reimbursed the state for work carried out.
“So, the Federal Government should come and intervene just as they are helping other states,” Inyang pleaded.
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The commissioner attributed the continual flooding in Uyo to climate change and its topography.
He, however, expressed hope that with the recent dynamic flood design of the state government, saying that work on the flash points for the floods would soon commence.
“Tackling Uyo flood is continuous and there is much flood here because of topography and climate change that have brought increased rain with more water within a cubic feet.
“One of the contractors measuring it said he had 150mm of water within cubic feet, whereas in normal heavy rain, it should be half of that.
“Also, drainage from the numerous roads built have more volume of water, needing bigger drainage into the outflows. For instance, the pipe jacking technology required a runoff of up to 3.7 km.
“So you see that we have a lot of runoffs and connecting them to the outfalls involve enormous work and these are major issues inherent in Akwa Ibom,” he said.
Inyang revealed that a new design was ready and the contract for flood control, especially at the problematic areas, had been given to Julius Berger.
He assured residents that much of the flooding problems would be addressed before the next rainy season, saying that work would commence during the dry season. (NAN)